Recollection
by Percie Jean
Summary: They didn't know it, but their first meeting had actually taken place several years ago, on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge.


**Disclaimer: **This is a non-commercial work of fanfiction. All of the characters from _Newsies _referenced in this story belong to Disney and not to me.

**A/N: **Hi everyone! This is just another "Something Worth Winning" off-shoot that's the result of my overactive imagination...if you've read my other stories, you know by now what you're getting yourself into :) This one-shot is dedicated to the self-identifying Race fans/readers of SWW, as well as to anyone who has humored my Race and Davey BrOTP theory and the fanfiction that has been written as a result.

The stories that converge to form the premise of this one-shot are: "Something Worth Winning," which establishes that the Jacobs family lived in Brooklyn for a period of time before coming to Manhattan, "Kings and Kingdoms" (Race's chapter), which introduces the character of Sophie and gives a bit of Race's backstory and childhood in Brooklyn, and "Resolve," which references young!Davey's marble collection.

* * *

_**Brooklyn, 1890**_

The boy across the street looked sad, and seven-year-old Anthony Higgins was curious as to why.

It didn't make sense to him. After all, if he'd been lucky enough to own as fine a marble collection as the boy had, he certainly would have had no reason to be sad. A scattering of glass spheres lay gleaming in the dirt by the boy's feet, and Anthony noted a good variety in size and color, though he was still too far away to identify the individual pieces.

It really was a fine-looking marble collection.

Anthony wondered if perhaps a good "for fair" game would cheer the other boy up (Anthony, of course, would have preferred to play "for keeps," but the other boy looked too smart to be suckered into that, and it probably wouldn't do anything to make him feel better, anyway). "For fair" it would be, then, Anthony decided.

"Sophie!" he called out, fishing in his pocket until he felt the cool, smooth shape of his favorite glass shooter. His little sister, who had been squatting on the sidewalk nearby watching a line of ants, obediently got to her feet and ambled over.

"We's gonna take a little walk across the street," Anthony said, taking her small hand in his own.

"Why?" the toddler questioned.

"'Cause I'm gonna see if that boy over there wants to play a game of marbles with me," her brother answered.

"Why?" asked Sophie.

"'Cause he looks like he could use some cheerin' up," Anthony said patiently, used to his sister's never-ending line of questions. He redirected Sophie's attention, pointing across the street. "You see those glassy bits on the ground by his feet?"

The girl nodded. "Is those the marbles?"

"Yup," her brother affirmed. "You probably ain't seen so many of 'em all at once, huh? Lookin' all bright and shiny like a bunch of them hard candies Nonna sent us that one time for Christmas? 'Cept these ain't candies, Soph, so you probably shouldn't try to eat 'em."

Anthony's empty stomach growled, and he pushed away the familiar feeling of hunger, tugging on his sister's hand and saying brightly, "Come on, let's go." They carefully crossed the street and made their way over to where the unhappy-looking boy was sitting, leaning against the wall of a run-down tenement building, shooting at the marbles half-heartedly.

"Hiya!" Anthony called, waving his hand in greeting as they drew near. The boy looked up in surprise.

"Hi," he answered cautiously, sitting up a little straighter. He regarded them curiously, glancing first at Anthony, and then at Sophie. "Is that your sister?" he asked the former.

Anthony nodded. Before he could say anything more, the boy continued his line of inquiry: "Do you like being a big brother?"

Anthony was caught off guard by the question, but it was easy enough to answer. "'Course I do!" he declared proudly, putting a hand on his sister's shoulder. "You always got someone lookin' up to you, and you ain't ever lonely."

The boy looked conflicted. "Ruben at my school is a big brother, and he says that it just means your parents won't have time for you anymore," he answered doubtfully.

Anthony scoffed. "If he's got folks that even _gives_ him the time of day enough for him to feel jealous, he ain't got a right to be complainin.' My parents never had a lick of time for me, an' that started way before Sophie came along."

The boy seemed to ponder this for a moment.

"That's a nice lookin' marble collection," Anthony said, steering the conversation towards a much more rewarding topic of discussion. "You wanna have a friendly match?" He pulled out his shooter and a small handful of mibs.

"Sure," the other boy shrugged. He glanced over at Sophie and hesitated a moment before scooping up a few of the marbles from his collection and holding them out to her. "Do you want to play with these?" he offered shyly. Before Sophie could take them, however, he quickly snatched them back, shooting a worried look at Anthony. "She won't try to eat them, right?" he asked, sounding a little anxious at the thought.

Anthony waved it off, unconcerned. "You ain't gonna put these in your mouth, right Soph?" he asked. His sister shook her head, then promptly scooped the marbles up from the boy's open hand and ambled off a few feet away to plunk them one by one into the dirt.

"So," Anthony said, fishing a loop of string out of his pocket and arranging it into a circle on the ground, "why all the questions about bein' a big brother?"

"My mom just had a baby a few weeks ago," the boy answered, leaning over to help him. "So I guess I'm just wondering what it's going to be like."

"Is that what's gotcha so down in the dumps?" Anthony asked, truly not understanding his companion's dejection.

The boy shook his head. "No, it's not that." He paused. "My family's moving to Queens next week. I'm going to have to go to a new school, and I'm not going to know anyone."

"That don't sound like much fun," Anthony muttered sympathetically. He hadn't attended much school himself, but the few memories he had of being in a classroom weren't pleasant ones. He preferred the freedom of wandering the streets with Sophie, and even though it meant that sometimes they got into trouble and often they went hungry, he would take it over the confines of a school room any day.

Having arranged the circle and their combined marbles to their satisfaction, both boys knelt on the ground. Anthony wiped his dusty hands off on his knickers before fingering his shooter.

"You want to go first?" he offered.

The other boy shook his head. "You go ahead." Anthony could see that he was studying the marbles in the ring with a practiced eye, and the seven-year-old was slightly relieved that they were only playing "for fair," after all.

Knuckling down, Anthony adjusted his grip on his shooter, aiming for a particularly fine-looking aggie at the edge of the group. He was just about to flick the shooter out of his fist, when a voice suddenly called out from the tenement above.

"David! Where are you?"

"That's my mom," the boy said hastily, glancing in the direction of the voice. "Sorry - I have to go." Disappointed, both boys began sorting out the marbles, Anthony's modest collection returning to his pocket, and the other boy's larger selection going into a small cloth pouch.

Remembering Sophie, Anthony was about to call his sister to have her bring the marbles over, when the boy suddenly stopped him.

"Wait," he said. He glanced over at Sophie, and then at Anthony. "Keep them," he said impulsively, holding out his bag of marbles. "You and your sister can share."

Anthony stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "You crazy?"

"My dad says I need to be a big boy now, and that I shouldn't be thinking so much about my marble collection," the boy answered, ducking his head. He hesitated a moment, then thrust the pouch at Anthony again, as if trying to get them out of his hands before he changed his mind. "Take them."

He was clearly conflicted about the decision, and Anthony took the bag reluctantly. "You sure your folks ain't gonna be mad when you show up empty-handed?" he asked. "They's gonna think you lost your marbles!"

The boy shook his head. "My dad says the apartment we're moving into is going to be a lot smaller, so we can't bring everything with us, anyway." His eyes were wistful, and Anthony felt another pang of sympathy.

"You _sure_ about this?" he asked again, doubtfully. "I mean, I ain't gonna say no, and I know my sister's gonna love playin' with them, but really, they's yours."

This time, the boy's answer was firm. "I'm sure," he said, looking over to where Sophie was still playing. "Keep them. Especially if she's going to enjoy them." And before Anthony could protest or question him further, he turned and hurried back into the tenement.

The bag of marbles was heavy in Anthony's hand, and he absently fished the small handful of mibs and the glass shooter out of his pocket, adding them to the pouch. It had probably been the shortest and most surprising game of marbles he had ever played, and definitely the first time someone he barely knew had given him something so unexpected. He still wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole encounter.

Cinching the bag closed and tucking it into his pocket, Anthony walked over to his sister, kneeling down to put a hand gently on her shoulder. "Come on, Soph," he said. "Grab your marbles, and let's go. We gotta be headin' home."

* * *

_**Brooklyn, 1899**_

"_...and Sophie still has that marble collection," Race concluded, as Spot dealt him in for another round of poker. "We went back to that part of town a few more times, but we never saw him again." He paused thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair. "Wonder how he liked bein' a big brother."_


End file.
